The Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) manages over of

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

range Range may refer to: Geography * Range (geographic), a chain of hills or mountains; a somewhat linear, complex mountainous or hilly area (cordillera, sierra) ** Mountain range, a group of mountains bordered by lowlands * Range, a term used to i ...

, agricultural, and commercial lands in the U.S. state of

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

. The DNR also manages of aquatic areas which include

shoreline A shore or a shoreline is the fringe of land at the edge of a large body of water, such as an ocean, sea, or lake. In physical oceanography, a shore is the wider fringe that is geologically modified by the action of the body of water past a ...

s, tidelands, lands under

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ) is a sound of the Pacific Northwest, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and part of the Salish Sea. It is located along the northwestern coast of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected ma ...

and the coast, and navigable lakes and rivers. Part of the DNR's management responsibility includes monitoring of mining cleanup, environmental restoration, providing scientific information about earthquakes,

landslides Landslides, also known as landslips, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, deep-seated slope failures, mudflows, and debris flows. Landslides occur in a variety of environments, ...

, and ecologically sensitive areas. DNR also works towards conservation, in the form of Aquatic Reserves such as

Maury Island Maury Island is a tied island in Puget Sound in the U.S. state of Washington. It is connected to Vashon Island by an isthmus built by local homeowners in 1913. Before construction of the isthmus, the island was connected to Vashon only durin ...

and in the form of Natural Area Preserves like

Mima Mounds Mima mounds are low, flattened, circular to oval, domelike, natural mounds that are composed of loose, unstratified, often gravelly sediment that is an overthickened A horizon. These mounds range in diameter from 3 to more than 50 m; in he ...

or Natural Resource Conservation Areas like

Woodard Bay Natural Resource Conservation Area Woodard Bay Natural Resources Conservation Area is a natural reserve in Olympia, Washington protected under the Washington Natural Areas Program. Once an important processing facility for the logging industry, it has been designated as the Weyerha ...

. The Department was created in 1957 to manage state trust lands for the people of Washington. DNR management of state-owned forests, farms, rangeland, aquatic, and commercial lands generates more than $200 million in annual revenue for public schools, state institutions, and county services. DNR is also Washington's largest firefighting force, with more than 1,500 firefighters who control wildland fires for more than 13 million acres of private and state-owned forest lands. The main sources of funds for the department's activities are

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. ...

and

geoduck The Pacific geoduck ("gooey-duck"; ; ''Panopea generosa'') is a species of very large saltwater clam in the family Hiatellidae. The common name is derived from the Lushootseed ( Nisqually) word . The geoduck is native to the coastal waters of t ...

harvesting, rather than taxes. In addition, the State uses revenue generated from DNR-managed lands to fund the construction of public schools, colleges, universities, and other government institutions, and county and state services.

Commissioner of Public Lands

The head of DNR is an elected constitutional officer known as "the Commissioner of Public Lands". Fourteen individuals have served the State of Washington as Commissioner of Public Lands, two of whom (Taylor and Case) served non-consecutive terms. Otto A. Case also served as

Washington State Treasurer The Washington State Treasurer is an elected official in the US state of Washington whose office is established by the Washington State Constitution. Mike Pellicciotti is the current Washington State Treasurer, a Democrat who began his term in J ...

from 1933–1937 and 1941–1945. The Commissioner of Public Lands is seventh in the

line of succession An order of succession or right of succession is the line of individuals necessitated to hold a high office when it becomes vacated such as head of state or an honour such as a title of nobility.Governor of Washington The governor of Washington is the head of government of Washington and commander-in-chief of the state's military forces.WA Const. art. III, § 2. The officeholder has a duty to enforce state laws,WA Const. art. III, § 5. the power to either a ...

, immediately after the Superintendent of Public Instruction. The current Commissioner of Public Lands is

Hilary Franz Hilary S. Franz (born July 1, 1970) is an American politician and conservation attorney serving as the 16th Washington State Commissioner of Public Lands since 2017. She is a member of the Democratic Party who was previously a member of the Bain ...

, who was elected on November 8, 2016.

Divisions

* Aquatic Resources * Conservation, Recreation, and Transactions * Engineering and General Services * Financial Management * Forest Practices * Forest Resources * Geology and Earth Resources (often abbreviated as "DGER") * Human Resources * Information Technology * Product Sales and Leasing

Management of public lands

Aquatic reserves

The Department of Natural Resources has established aquatic reserves throughout the state to protect important native ecosystems on state-owned aquatic lands. Through its aquatic reserves, DNR promotes the preservation, restoration, and enhancement of state-owned aquatic lands that are of special educational, scientific, or environmental interest. Managing aquatic reserves does not affect private or other adjacent land ownership.

Law enforcement

DNR employs approximately 10 law enforcement officers who are located throughout the state. These officers patrol lands owned or managed by the DNR. DNR officers are full-authority law enforcement officers while they are on DNR lands. Under state law DNR officers are considered to be limited authority law enforcement officers since their state law enforcement authority is only applicable on lands owned by DNR. The majority of the county sheriffs in Washington have commissioned all of their local DNR officers as county deputies allowing them to act as a full authority law enforcement officer throughout the county, not only on DNR lands. DNR officers are dispatched by the

Washington State Patrol The Washington State Patrol (WSP) is the state patrol agency for the U.S. state of Washington. Organized as the Washington State Highway Patrol in 1921, it was renamed and reconstituted in 1933. The agency is charged with the protection of the G ...

Natural hazards

The DNR maintains a portal with natural hazard information for the public including tsunamis; landslides and earthquakes; volcanoes and lahars; and "mineral hazards" ( asbestos, heavy metals and naturally occurring uranium, and

radon gas Radon is a chemical element with the symbol Rn and atomic number 86. It is a radioactive, colourless, odourless, tasteless noble gas. It occurs naturally in minute quantities as an intermediate step in the normal radioactive decay chains through ...

) in the State of Washington.

References

External links

* {{authority control

Natural Resources Natural resources are resources that are drawn from nature and used with few modifications. This includes the sources of valued characteristics such as commercial and industrial use, aesthetic value, scientific interest and cultural value. ...

State environmental protection agencies of the United States Natural resources agencies in the United States